By Charlie van Gelderen AFTER MONTHS of negotiations. the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA), which is supposed to draw up a blueprint for the new 'democratic South Africa, has reached deadlock.
Since the opening of CODESA Il in February, there have boon hundreds tesses tosssmaty works ing groups. The sticking point has always been the determination of De Klerk and the National Party that De Klerk: stuck in a comer power sharing does not mean the end of white dominance.
As Mercia Andrews, National Organiser of the Workers Organisation for Socialist Action (WOSA), puts * negotiations are only an attempt by the South Alrican government to draw the liberation movement into a deal of democracy - in order to blunt the struggles of working people.
Bottom line
In the a vanito month, De Klerk laid down his bottom ine' in a pamphlet signed jointly by Mandela: pushing for 70 per cent him and the four National Party provincial leaders. This promised 'Constraints on the powers of future presi dents to ensure that there would be no This is what white voters expected when they voted 'yes' in the referendum.
Though De Klerk has made a few significant withdrawals since then; he has been adamant that South Africa will not end up with a Westminstertype democracy.
His negobating team at CODESA insists on 'minorty protections' and 'checks and balances' - constitutional guarantees that blacks will not be able too wine nice the cons to blacks for 400 years.
Interim government
The main negotiating parties - the ANC and the government party - have agreed on the setting up of an interim government whose rould be the crafting of a new consisted this task should be the work of a constituent assembly elected by universal franchise.
At CODESA's most recent meeting, the working groups entrusted with fair elections agreed on a system where all carties would share executhe control over the security forces. state spending and broadcasting.
A Transitional Executive Council would be set up paralei to standing goverment structures. clear for this to be in place by July and possibly elections by the end of the year. Then it all broke down!
The ANC insisted that aer the elections the transitional council would decide on the clauses in a new No. 22 thirds malori The government and its allies - Inkatha and some of the 'homeland leaders - wanted 75 per cont. Then the ANC of. fored a compromise on 70 per cent. Impasse But at the time of wri ing, that 5 per cent is a gap that they cannot ridge. The ANC would lose credibilty i it gave in to the govemment's demands any more; and the goverment knows that could never com mand much more than 25 per cent of the popular vote and woul lace the loss of the las While these negotiations were going on, the mas sacres of blacks in the townships and on commuter trains have continued, with increasing proof of the involve ment of the security forces.
The Johannesburg headquarters of the ANC is under heavily-armed guard, following threats from former agents of an undercover hit-squad, the Civil Cooperation Bureau.
In these conditions, a peaceful solution to South Africa's problems seems highly problematic - and that could be the understatement of the year.
May 30, 1992
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